Hens pull off 'incredible' upset, head to CAA semifinals

UPPER MARLBORO, Md. – Elena Delle Donne didn't even realize the magnitude of what she and her teammates had just accomplished.

Sitting at the postgame press conference in the back of The Show Place Arena Delle Donne was just happy her team was moving on. Delaware (19-12) had finally ended its 10-game losing streak against rival Old Dominion (20-10) on Friday night and earned itself a semifinal berth in the CAA tournament for the second straight year.

The seventh-seeded Hens used a 31-point performance from Delle Donne and a balanced attack to upset the second-seeded Monarchs, 72-55. For the first time in history, there will be no Old Dominion team in the CAA semifinals.

Upon learning this, Delle Donne did a double take. It was one of the few missteps she had all night.

"Wow," she said with a chuckle. "That feels good. They're a phenomenal team, and we're just so happy right now and knowing that, that's incredible. If someone was going to have to break it, I'm glad it was us."

Before the game, the Monarchs were 53-2 in their 19 years competing in the CAA tournament. One of those 53 wins came at the expense of the Hens in last year's semifinal matchup, when Delaware blew a 12-point halftime lead.

On Friday night, the Hens carried a 6-point lead into the break. But this time they did not give it away—they extended it.

"We just want this so bad," Delle Donne said. "Whoever's standing in the way, we're going to push out of the way."

A 9-0 run late in the first half gave Delaware its lead at halftime. At the heart of the run was sn unlikely source—sophomore Jaquetta May.

May created some instant offense with her defense. She scored 9 points, all within the final 5:54 of the first half and had three steals along with four offensive rebounds in the game.

"I guess defense makes your offense," she said. "The harder you work on defense, the easier it is on offense."

Six of her points were the beginning of Delaware's 9-0 run. Delle Donne provided the final 3 when she received an inbounds pass at the top of the circle and nailed a 3-pointer.

Defensively, May caused problems for Old Dominion's senior guard duo of Jasmine Parker and Kquanise Byrd. Delaware head coach Tina Martin thought May's athleticism would help dealing with the Monarchs' speed.

"Jaquetta is one of the young ladies on our team that has that kind of quickness," Martin said.

Old Dominion made a run in the second half. It closed the gap to 8 before Delaware reeled off seven straight possessions resulting in points. Delle Donne capped this run off with a 3-pointer and a fade-away jumper to put the Hens up by 15. The lead stayed at double digits for the remainder of the game.

In last year's semifinal, Delle Donne was the only Delaware player to score in the second half. This time she got help from her teammates. Vanessa Kabongo had 11 points and Danielle Parker contributed 9.

"You never know who's going to score," May said. "It just comes around in a circle."

For the second straight game Delaware dominated in the rebounding battle. The Hens pulled down 41, including 17 on the offensive end. Delle Donne earned herself a double-double with 10 rebounds.

"I thought we dominated the boards," Martin said. "I thought we controlled the pace of the game. All the things we needed to do to defeat a team like Old Dominion we got done tonight."

Delle Donne eclipsed the 30-point mark for the seventh time this season and continued her assault on the Delaware record books.

She hit all seven of her free throws, meaning she has now hit 43 attempts in a row, a school record. She still has a way to go to break her personal free throw record of 80 in a row she set while in high school at Ursuline Academy.

Delaware will have less than 24 hours to prepare for its next opponent, third-seeded UNC Wilmington. The Seahawks defeated Drexel in their quarterfinal matchup Friday night, 63-51.

The Hens and Seahawks have only met once this year. UNC Wilmington (23-7) won that matchup at home handedly, by the score of 66-48.

The semifinal will tip off at approximately 2:30 p.m. Saturday. It will be after the noon semifinal matchup between first-seeded James Madison and fourth-seeded VCU.

The CAA championship game will be 1:00 p.m. Sunday afternoon.

Stay with udreview.com all weekend for ongoing coverage of the tournament or pick up Tuesday's paper for a post-tournament wrap up. For live updates, follow sports editor Tim Mastro on Twitter.